CRBN
by Catalyst86
Summary: The story of team CRBN (pronounced Carbon). Set 2 years before the initial events of RWBY volume one. After a night of partying, the friends find themselves in a new world, lost and separated.
1. Chapter 1: A New World

**Chapter 1**

**A New World**

The world was still spinning as Chris opened his eyes. As his head started to clear, he noticed he was in a small clearing surrounded by trees. The pounding in his head reminded him of the drinking and partying from the night before. He rubbed his eyes to try and clear his vision and to get a better sense of where he was.

_Okay, last thing I remember, I was in Ben's basement, maybe I walked out into the woods and passed out._

Taking a second look around at his surroundings, he realized that his assumption was incorrect. The ground below him was covered in grass and the trees were not any he had seen before, and they certainty were not ones he had seen in the woods behind Ben's house. They had thick, dense trunks and shot into the air much higher than most trees behind the house. The bark was a very light brown, almost tan, in color. The leaves themselves were an odd shape, almost a perfect circle and were light green. Chris stared in awe at the lush forest.

_Well this makes no sense, where in the world could I be? My head is still killing me and I feel like I'm going to puke. I shouldn't have had all that Jameson. I should try and get out of thes..._

Before he could even finish his train of thought, Chris rolled over and immediately threw up.

_Okay, never drinking that crap again. Back to trying to find my way out of here. I might have just ended up in a different part of the woods that we had never explored. At least if I can't find Ben's house I can get out of the woods._

As Chris stood up, he looked back down at the ground. Seeing his pile of vomit made him cringe, but he noticed a blue backpack a little ways away from where he was laying.

_I must have wandered into the woods intentionally if I have this thing with me. The question is did I bring all my stuff with me._

Chris picked up the back and opened it revealing a laptop, iPhone, iPad, assorted charging cables for his devices, a spare set of clothes, headphones, glasses and sunglasses, a few bottles of water and a couple granola bars.

_Check, check, annnnnd check. Looks like I brought everything, but why did I. Well most of the stuff is in there and the event of an emergency such as this, it should help. And the rest I must have put in there so I would not lose it in the case of this happening. I should check my phone see if I have any messages from the guys and also try to contact them to figure out what happened._

Glancing at his phone he saw that there were a few texts from the night before. One from his girlfriend saying, "Goodnight and be safe," one from Ben saying, "I'll be right up to let you in in a minute," and one from an unknown number with what appeared to be a penis drawn using characters. He sighed at the thought of one of his friends thinking this would be a good joke at their age. At that thought he laughed, knowing he would have done the exact same thing, especially if he was on the receiving end of a bunch of drunken texts at some obscene hour of the night.

He then switched back to trying to find his way back to society. He tapped the phone icon and started punching in his friend's phone number. The phone started to ring, but shortly played a message that he dreaded to hear, "Sorry, but the number you are trying to reach is either not in service range or is disconnected. Please try again." "CRAP! Okay let's try to reach Ricky." Punching his other friend's number into his phone he received the same message, "Sorry, but the num..." He quickly hung up and sighed. "Well that just leaves Nick then." Dialing again, he heard the phone ring. Just as he was about to hang the phone up again he heard a slight click and Chris shouted into his phone, "Nick! Nick! Are you there? Hello! Hello?" He waited for a response, but never received one. He sighed and threw his phone into his bag.

_Well it looks like I'm out of luck with calling. Well I can at least try and find out where I am with my GPS. I just hope I have data coverage that is strong enough for this to work. I should check before I try so I don't get my hopes up while the map tries to load._

Looking down at his phone he saw the letters "VCN" up where it normally displayed his cellular company. And next to that where he saw the usual "LTE" connection, it said "SC."

_That's weird, but I've seen how phones connect to internal networks when roaming. How could I be in another country or even another state? Whatever, I will figure it out when I have time and when I am not stuck in the woods. I have a 3 bars and it looks like I am connected to whatever this network is so it is worth a shot._

Tapping on his maps app, he waited for his location to be pin pointed. The map of Earth loaded, but then an error message displayed saying, "Your location is unable to be displayed at this time, please try again later." Closing the app he opened up the compass, calibrated it, and watched it point North.

_Well at least some things work. I can at least try and find a way out of the woods, and hopefully find my way home and find my friends._

Grabbing a bottle of water and taking a drink, Chris picked up his pack. He plugged his headphones into his phone and put them on. Selecting a playlist of his favorite music he started what he hoped would be a relativity short journey.

* * *

><p>After about four hours of walking he made it to the top of a hill with a clear lookout that gave him a full view of the forest around him. As he looked to the North-East, he saw a small town. He was excited and confused at the same time. If he was where he thought he was, there should not be any towns like that anywhere close. And besides that, the woods behind Ben's house were relativity small and he should have made it to some road or house within an hour or so. Chris looked over to the town and tried to make out details that might tell him something about it or even where he was. But from what he could see it looked relativity normal, the architectural design was a bit different, but not too odd. He could even see cars on the roads in the town.<p>

_Well I guess things are looking up a little. Maybe I should try yelling for the guys and see if maybe they are close by. At the very least I should try and make it to the town before dark. It looks to be about 2 in the afternoon, I have about four hours of good day light before sunset. I better pick up the pace and get moving._

Cupping his hands together to amplify his voice he shouted, "Ben, Ricky, Nick! Can you guys hear me?" No answer. Not surprised, he started towards the town, but he stopped when he heard a rustling noise coming from the bushes behind him. Turning around, to call for his friends again, he was at a loss for words when he saw a wolf like beast with a bone-like mask covering its face and bone-like protrusions coming out of its arms and back. The creature towered over him and looked at him with piercing red eyes. Chris was too scared to move, even to scream, the only thing he was able to do was move his arms in-front of his face to protect himself. As the monster prepared to strike him, Chris braced himself for the attack. He waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened. Chris uncovered his face and looked to see the monster in mid strike but not moving. It then started falling apart and disappearing. Behind the monster stood a man in a dark cloak with a large scythe in his hands. Chris stood there still in shock and amazed he was still alive.

_WHAT IN THE HELL WAS THAT AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED RIGHT THEN?! Who is this guy? What was that creature? Where am I?_

As his shock started to fade, he realized that the man before him had turned around and was now looking at him. Still unsure of himself, Chris turned towards the man and asked, "What was that thing?" The man tapped his scythe on the ground and it collapsed in on itself, he then slung it across his back and turned around. "That, young man was a Beowolf, a creature of Grimm," the man said.

Getting a better look at him, Chris saw the man was a bit taller than him, maybe 6 feet tall, and athletic build. He was wearing a dark cloak that covered most of his body, below the end of the cloak, Chris could see black pants and black combat boots. The man pulled his hood back a short styled black and silver haircut. The man then asked, "Who are you, and what are you doing out here at this time of day?" Chris responded, "My name is Chris Andrews, and as for what I'm doing in the forest, well I sort of woke up in the woods a few hours ago and I have been trying to find my friends and find my way home. Speaking of which could you tell me where I am?" "Well it is a pleasure to meet you Chris, my name is Qrow. As for your friends I'm sorry but at this time I cannot help you with that very much at this moment. To answer where you are, you are in just outside of the town of Patch, part of the Kingdom of Vale." Chris just stood there, dumbfounded, mouth agape.

_If what he says is true, I am nowhere near home, and hell I might not even be on the same planet! If that is true, how did I end up here? I should just ask him to help me get to that town, what did he call it? Patch I think._

"Well Qrow, I think I am very far from home, very very far from home. Do you think you think you could help me get to town?" asked Chris with emptiness in his voice. Qrow looked at the dejected teen with a bit of sympathy, he reminded him of his young niece, and the many times she had wandered off into the woods in search of adventure. He then replied, "Well try and keep up Chris, we only have a little bit of time before dark and you don't want to be caught in the forest after dark if you can avoid it."

_In the event that I am in a different world, I should at least try and set myself up for living here in the event that I will not be able to get home._

"Qrow!" Qrow turned his head to look at Chris, "this may sound really odd, but what planet are we on?" Qrow looked at him quizzically and responded, "This is the Kingdom of Vale, on the continent of Vytal, on the planet of Remnant." All Chris could muster was an, "Oh..." Chris and Qrow began their journey towards Patch.

_Welcome to a new world._

**A/N: **Hey guys, Catalyst here. This is my first fan fiction I have ever written. It is also the first story I have ever written. I hope you are enjoying the story so far. If you are or aren't leave a review and tell me what you liked/didn't like. More chapters will be coming as I write and get them checked over. I am aiming for one chapter a week, but I cannot be sure that will happen. And thank you for reading.


	2. Chapter 2: A Decision to Make

**Chapter 2**

**A Decision to Make**

The forest was calm now and Chris had regained his composure after his shocking realization that he was no longer near home, let alone on a different planet entirely. He followed quietly behind Qrow as they made their way towards Patch. Chris thought about the creature that had almost torn him limb from limb. He thought about the new world he had now become a part of. Chris knew if this was a different situation, that he would not be following a man he had just met who was carrying a very large scythe. Unfortunately for Chris he had no more options, he was lost and knew no one anywhere around. He did not even know if his friends had come here as well or if they were still back on Earth, searching for him.

_Well this is either the craziest dream I have ever had, my friends slipped me something into my drink, or I am completely awake and on a different world. If I was being honest, I would take alternate world over being drugged by my friends. But still, I really hope this is a bad dream._

Chris was pulled back into reality by a voice asking him, "Are you hungry?" Chris looked at Qrow who was holding an apple in his hand, offering it to him. Chris nodded and accepted the apple. A weak, "Thank you," was all Chris could say. Qrow continued walking, eating his apple.

_If I am to believe this kids story, I'm going to need more of his story. All I know about him is his name and that he is far from home. And to top it all off, I am taking him to my brother-in-law's and my nieces. We've been walking for a while anyways, I can get him to relax a little maybe and get him to tell me more._

Qrow stopped in a small clearing. There were a few tree stumps scatter around the clearing, and the ground was covered in mostly grass and leaves. To Chris it appeared as though the area might be a camping spot, especially when he saw the small pit in the ground with charred remains of a fire. Chris then turned to Qrow and asked, "Why are we stopping? What if another one of those things attacks?" Qrow merely smiled at him and said, "I would not worry about those Grimm, they are pretty low in power so to speak. Also you were starting to lag behind, and you looked like you need a rest." Chris started to protest, but Qrow cut him off, "Plus I would like to know more about this person who just appeared out of the forest from nowhere and started asking me some pretty odd questions." Chris sighed and sat down at on one of the stumps. Qrow followed suit and sat on one near by. "So, you want to know why I was out in the woods?" Chris inhaled and begun his story.

"My name is Christopher Andrews, I'm 19 years old, and as for where I'm from..." Chris's word's died off while he tried to make it seem like he was not a complete lunatic. "I'm from a place called the United States of America on the planet of Earth." He looked at Qrow who wore a blank expression on his face. Chris took this a sign that he should continue. "As for how I ended up in the forest this morning, I could not tell you exactly. I can tell you what I remember from last night, but that is not much either due to the fact that I was quite drunk and it appears I went over my limit." Qrow spoke up, "Chris, your telling me that you are 19, and you are from a different planet...Yes, that is a bit crazy, but if your going to lie about your age at least make it convincing." Chris looked at him confused beyond belief. "By my estimate I would say you are no older than 14, maybe you could pass for 16. So that's probably why you don't remember anything." Chris was starting to get angry, but he manged to remain in control, "I am 19 years old, I know that when I shave my face I tend to look younger but I assure you I am 19. I am from a different planet, unless this is the most elaborate prank anyone has pulled on me. What do I have to do to prove this to you!" Chris nearly shouting his last words. Qrow looked into Chris's eyes, seeing fire and fight behind them, but something else as well. Qrow saw honesty.

"I believe you," Qrow said quite plainly. Chris was a little stunned, "What did you say?" Qrow replied, "I said, I believe you. While it is quite a wild story, and to most it would be unbelievable, but I am not most people, you could say I am one who looks into strange happenings." Chris took a deep breath and exhaled before asking, "So why were you out here then? It sounds like you did not just happen to run into me." Qrow sat there thinking for a quick second before answering, "While I cannot tell you the exact specifics right now, I was visiting family in the nearby town and got a call from my boss telling me that I had to be at a location to check the anomalous reading that they had gotten. I went to the coordinates, and low and behold I saw a young man laying on the ground. I decided to observe in case you..." Qrow was quickly cut off, "You saw me in the forest and did not even try to help me!" Chris shouting. Qrow went on the defensive saying, "Hold on, calm down, I was going to help you, but protocol dictates that we are to observe, and intervene only when needed. That is why you saw me at all, I stepped in when I realized that you would not be able to defend yourself." Chris mumble, "Still a dick move." Qrow laughed, "Well it could have been worse, I could of let that Beowolf have a few good swings at you first." Chris was not amused. "Well anyways, my name is Qrow, and my usual job is teaching at Signal Academy. It is an early combat school to train hunters and huntresses before they go to the more advanced combat school to finish their education and start working." Chris looked at him funny before asking, "What are hunters? I am thinking that you and I have different definitions of hunters." Qrow stood up and started walking, "I'll tell you on the way, it is only a little further to town." Chris nodded and stood up following Qrow.

Chris was silent now as Qrow explained that the hunters and huntresses of this world were defenders of light. Their primary job was slaying monsters known as the Grimm, and helping the people of this world. In times of crisis, they were called upon to fight as warriors in times of war.

Chris spoke up, "That all honestly sounds like fairy tales, your telling me that this is reality?" Qrow nodded. "This world has been at war with the forces of darkness since the dawn of mankind. It was only with the discovery of dust that man was able to turn the tides of this ever raging war and force the Grimm back and defend the world." Chris started to speak, but Qrow cut him off, "I know what your about to ask, what is dust? Well to put it simply, dust is an energy propellant. It can be used to channel different elemental energy's. All the way from basic elements such as fire, water, earth, and air, to things such as lightning. Dust is used for almost everything in our world, it powers all forms of technology, and for hunters and huntresses, it is one of their most powerful tools." Chris nodded and continued following.

_Dust sounds like a combination of oil, black powder, and electricity. And from what Qrow has told me this world seems almost exactly like Earth in the basic facets. From the looks of Qrow's device that he pulled out to check the time and our position, the technology might be a bit more advanced. Other than that it seems I could make my own way in this world if I am truly stuck on a new world. This might not be as bad as I initially thought._

The two continued walking in silence.

* * *

><p>After about two hours of walking, Qrow and Chris had made it to the town of Patch. Chris's assumptions about the technology had been correct. He saw street signs and light posts that looked almost transparent, but still supported weight and worked as expected. Qrow turned to him, "We are almost there, just a few more blocks and we will be at our destination." Chris's eyes wandered all around in wonder as he looked around the town. He was in awe of the town, while it was not much different from places he had been before, it seemed more spectacular knowing that it was a place unlike any other. In his shock and awe, he just nodded at Qrow who tried to stifle a laugh at the teen's reaction. They continued walking until they were standing in front of a modest two story house, it was a pale yellow color. Chris looked a little confused. Based off of what Qrow had told him, he was thinking he was going to be taken to some scientific compound for testing. "Why are we here?" Chris questioned. Qrow simply smiled and knocked on the door.<p>

A muffled voiced from inside said, "I'm coming, I'm coming." Suddenly the door opened, with a large well built man with short blonde hair, a well trimmed blonde beard. He was wearing blue jeans and a plain white shirt with the symbol of a snow flake on the sleeve. In a deep almost booming voice he said, "Ah Qrow, I was wondering where you had disappeared off to," he then saw Chris and asked, "and who might you be?" Extending his hand towards Chris. Chris extend his hand and shook the man's hand, "My name is Christopher Andrews, but you can call me Chris." The man replied, "nice to meet you Chris, my name is Taiyang Xaio Long." He looked at Qrow quizzically and said, "Ah where are my manners, please come in." Chris followed Qrow inside. Taiyang turned to Chris and said, "Go ahead and make yourself at home, I need to speak with Qrow for a minute. Oh and if you need to use the bathroom, it is down the hall and to the left." Chris nodded and headed down the hall to the bathroom.

He looked in the mirror checking himself over. He was wearing blue jeans, an orange and blue plaid button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, hiking boots, his trademark digital camouflage hat with an American flag across the front. Chris took a second look at his clothes and noticed that they were a bit too big. He then took a closer look at his face. It seemed softer too him and a bit smaller, there was no facial hair. His deep blue eyes were still as usual, but his blonde hair was longer and much puffier than he normally kept it, it reminded him of when he used to be in high school. He now understood why Qrow had though he was 14, but did not understand what happened to him that made him younger. He shrugged it off figuring that he had more important issues at this time than turning back the clock on his age. Chris finished up and walked back out to the couch in the living room and sat down. He could hear Qrow and Taiyang fighting over something, but could not make out specifics at this moment due to exhaustion that was quickly over taking him. Within minutes, he was asleep.

"Qrow, why is there a kid with you and why did you bring him to my house," Taiyang questioned Qrow trying to stay calm. Qrow responded by saying, "I cannot go into specifics, but he was recently put into my charge, and you know my current situation does not allow me to care for someone for extended periods of time. Also, you are much more experienced with raising kids than I am, and if all goes as planned, he will be out of your hair at the same time as Yang." Taiyang stroked his forehead as he sipped his whiskey. "Qrow are you sure there are no other option?" "Only one other, but none of us are going to like it." Qrow stated meekly. Taiyang asked, "Are you still going to give him the choice?" Qrow nodded, and they went to the living room where they found Chris fast asleep on the couch.

* * *

><p>Chris was standing back to back with his friends, they were in a large clearing surrounded with all types of Grimm. He recognized the upright wolves as Beowolfs, but he saw Grimm that he had never seen before, large scorpions with what looked like white bone armor with red markings, and also a twin headed snake with the same type of armor and markings, but one half was black and the other half was white and they were connected in the middle. Normally, Chris would be scared out of his mind by this, but he was calm and confident, he had Ricky, Ben and Nick with him. Suddenly a Beowolf charged Ben. Ben responded by charging at the creature with of all things, a banjo, he swung and knocked the creature down before firing a concentrated, dust infused sound wave at the creature, pulverizing it. The rest of the creatures started to move in and the group spread out. Chris shouted, "Ricky lay down suppressing fire, Ben fall back and cover him. Nick keep them focused on us so the rest of the teams and keep evacuating." Ricky, Ben and Nick nodded and started to get to work. Ricky stuck his twin swords together making a LSAT light machine gun and then proceeded to lay down a blanket of fire on the approaching Grimm. Ben fell back and covered him keeping the Grimm off his back. Nick jumped out beyond the near by Grimm to keep them contained. Chris worked on picking off the Grimm that were suppressed by Ricky's fire. He swung his heavy weapon knocking the Grimm in front of him down. The group of friends staved off the attacks for around 45 minutes before the fatigue started to set in. Chris was running low on energy and he could no longer see Nick out in the woods, Ricky had run out of ammo and was now fighting in close combat and Ben was almost out of Dust. Suddenly, Chris was struck to the ground and he saw his friends hit the ground shortly after. He tried reaching for them while yelling, "Ricky, Ben, hold on guys help is on the way! Guys! Guys!" He felt a shaking on his arm as his eyes started closing and he heard his name being called, right before his eyes closed he saw a flash of girl with red and black hair, then it was just black.<p>

Chris awoke shortly after, but not to the battlefield but the familiar faces of Qrow and Taiyang looking down at him. He realized that all he just saw was a dream, but it felt so real. "Chris wake up. I have something to talk to you about." Chris looked at Qrow and said, "Whats up?" Qrow looked at Taiyan and then back at Chris and said, "The group I work for has taken an interest in you, but has given me the authority to decide your fate. But, I am giving you the option to choose which you want. Do you understand?" Chris nodded. "You first option is that you come back with me to a lab and the group will run all sorts of experiments on you, and maybe after a number of years you will be given a chance to live a normal sort of life. Or option two, you remain with Taiyang and his family, train to become a hunter, go to school and then become a professional huntsman. It will be difficult at first because you will need to train to be able to go to advanced combat school, but I believe you can do it and become a great hunter. Also if you choose this you will have the full support of the organization I work for and they will provide any resources you need and monitor your progress. This is also your best option to find your friends if they are here on our world." Chris's eyes lit up. He no longer needed to think. Without a ounce of hesitation in his voice he said, "I will become a hunter, and I will find my friends."

_Whether that was a dream or not, I had a strange feeling like I connected with my friends for an instant. I know they are on this world and I will find them. I will become a hunter!_

**A/N: Hey guys, Cataylst here. Thank you for reading and supporting me. I also want to apologize for posting this so much later than I expected. It is partially my fault and partially my proof readers. From now on my goal is to post new chapters between Wednesday and Friday. I cannot say for sure that this will happen but I will do my best for you guys. Anyways, leave a review, tell me what you liked or didn't like. Later people.**


	3. Update

**Update**

Hey there every one Catalyst here. I figured I would post an update since I haven't posted a new chapter in a couple weeks. I am working on the next chapter at the moment, but it has slowed down a good bit because I have just gotten back to college and back into things. So give me a few more days and I will try to get you the new chapter out. I will say with the next chapter Chris will prepare to start his hunter training and meet a certain black and red haired girl and her blonde haired sister. Thank you for your continued support everyone. You guys are awesome and have given me more support than I could of ever expected.

In other news. As many of you may have heard Rooster Teeth and community has experienced a great loss. The death of Monty Oum. I have seen the support the community has given to RT and his family. Without his initial vision the concept of RWBY would have never come around and it is sad to see we will not see more of his visions come to life. If you guys were not able to see the podcast last night, 2/2/15, it was good to see the Bunie, Gus, and Matt talking about Monty. It has not been posted yet, I do not know if it will be posted any time soon. All I can tell you guys is to continue to support the Men and Women from RT and Monty's family. Also as a not of common sense. Do not ask one at RT about the coming of new video's, RVB or RWBY. It is just common courtesy.

I will pull this down when I post the next chapter.


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